The South Australian senator who said he had secured a commitment for an "open tender" to allow Australian ship builders to bid for work building the next fleet of submarines has deepened the confusion over what he was promised by Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
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In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, senator Sean Edwards was asked to clear up the confusion over whether Mr Abbott promised an "open tender" or a so-called "competitive evaluation process" in a bid to secure votes to defeat Monday's leadership spill. However, he was unable to clearly explain what he was promised, and ultimately observed that: "You know, you never get a second chance to ask your uncle to your wedding."
Mr Abbott has been accused by Labor of making up the term "competitive evaluation process" to secure the votes of South Australian MPs, who have been under enormous pressure in their home state over government plans to send shipbuilding contracts overseas.
On Tuesday, Senator Edwards gave a series of bizarre responses when interviewer David Speers asked him whether the Prime Minister had specifically promised an open tender in a conversation with him before Monday's vote.
"I had two conversations with the Prime Minister over the weekend," Senator Edwards said. "One when he rang me after I issued that statement and then he rang me on Sunday and gave me the assurances that I sought on Saturday were the assurances that I received from the Prime Minister."
"And what were they?" Speers asked.
"That the Australian companies and ship building companies and companies associated with all of that would be able to participate in the process," Senator Edwards said.
When pushed to clarify what the precise process was, Senator Edwards, who joined the Senate in 2011, insisted it was "all the same", that the use of the term "open tender" were his words and anyone wanting clarification on what Mr Abbott had offered should talk to the Prime Minister.
The main point, he argued, was that whatever the process, it was "the only gig in town" for Australian companies wanting to bid for submarine contracts.
"Don't get caught up in all of this," he said.
"This is they say something and I say another and the Defence Minister…it's all the same."
He later conceded he believed the Prime Minister had used the word tender.
"I believe he did because when I said can I confirm that the ASC can compete in this tender, he said yes, you can."
Senator Edwards then urged the ASC to prove it had the capability to participate: "We shouldn't be flying these balloons. You know, this I said, she said, you meant, it's the only process is the one they're now included [in]," he said.
"The assurance that I asked of the Prime Minister and that all of my South Australian colleagues to the best of my knowledge have asked for is for them to be included," he said.
"You know, you never get a second chance to ask your uncle to your wedding. You've got to go through life having not asked your uncle to come to the wedding. Now, this is something that they [Australian shipbuilders] want to be involved in."
